Let’s talk about the why’s and how’s of creating the Ultimate Sales Playbook.

Last week, we brought you The Ultimate Sales Playbook: Part I, ‘The What’. So now that we know exactly what it is, let’s talk about WHY the top benefits are and HOW to go ahead and actually do it!

“THE WHY”

Benefits:

• Consistency – The Sales Playbook is your Bible. This is where everything from sales tools, sales processes, handover protocols, remuneration schemes, telephone scripts, and CRM belong (plus MORE!). And with everything in the same place, it’ll increase efficiency and cohesion, and will lower lead times.
• Better Positioning – With consistent messaging, branding, and market positioning, everyone in your team will be singing the same song. Which means – stronger brand, clearer message, greater understanding of the industry at large, and better market competitiveness.
• Better Prospects – With everyone’s wisdom in one place, objection handling, pain-point identifying, and the closing of sales will be much smoother.
• More Sales – When all of the above is combined into a great Sales Playbook, more sales will inevitably happen. As a result, your business will be able to position themselves better in the market, present their value clearly, and close more sales.

“THE HOW”

Step 1: Who Should be Involved?

A Sales Playbook gives your business a strategic edge. It is the sum of everything your business is about in one place (book). This is especially true when it comes to blending your business’s Sales and Marketing – to make sure messaging, goals, and brand positioning are clearly defined across your whole business.

Sales People: The VP, Director, and some of your business’s high-performing Sales Representatives. This number varies depending on size of the business. If there are reps using different approaches with success, include both points-of-view.

Marketing People: CMO, product marketers, market researchers. The goal here is to clearly define your business’s buyer personas, brand messaging, and market positioning.

Outside People: This is how you turn a good Sales Playbook into a GREAT Sales Playbook. Market researchers, data analysts, industry specialists, or someone like Hunt and Hawk – marketing, sales, and professional services expert – can provide you an invaluable outsider’s perspective.

N.B. It’s a good idea to make one person in-charge of the whole project. This way, communications, planning, and timelines can be easily managed and shared with the rest of the team.

Step 2: What Part of the Sales Process will be the Focus?

If you are starting from scratch, save yourself some heartache and tackle it one section at a time. It is a BIG project, so without outside help it is recommended to pick one aspect of the sales cycle and then move onto the next.

So, deciding where to begin?

Take a look at how your business is currently performing. Talk to your sales reps and look at what resources you already have (i.e. email templates, telephone scripts) and where resources need to be included or improved.

Here are some ideas of where to begin:

• Identify Qualified Buyers. Start with: buyer questions, step-by-step framework, key identifiers.
• Present Value. Start with: messaging, your ‘why’, industry insights, testimonials, objection handling.
• Close. Start with: email/telephone close scripts, sample contracts, negotiation frameworks – depending on the complexity of your product, these will either be clear-cut or vary according to the sales rep.

Step 3: It’s a Work-In-Progress!

Depending on your business, you can choose to either have uniform sales protocols in place or to have each sales rep use their discretion if this is something that works more effectively for your business. Overall, it depends entirely on you and your business.

The NUMBER ONE thing a Sales Playbook should include at ALL TIMES are CLEAR EXPECTATIONS. By doing this, no matter how you choose to do business or even how you approach your Sales Playbook, there is a clear understanding of what is expected from your staff and sales outcomes.

Hunt and Hawk are Sales Playbook savvy, book in for your free flying class today and lets create your ultimate Sales Playbook. We’ll take your business to new heights!